SEIU Local 2015 caregivers and supporters for In-Home Supportive Service Providers, for San Bernardino County, rally for increased pay and benefits inside the San Bernardino County Government building in San Bernardino on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A rowdier version played out a week earlier, at the supervisor meeting in San Bernardino, when hundreds of members of SEIU Local 2015 arrived in purple t-shirts. At that meeting caregivers and supporters, including civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, made their case by protesting outside, blocking the entrance, chanting, ringing bells and banging on windows.The outburst led to a short recess, but no arrests.

The caregivers in the Inland Empire are part of a broader movement. Caregivers throughout California, represented by both unions, have been seeking higher wages and benefits. Recently, their counterparts in Los Angeles and Orange counties signed new contracts that included raises.

What is all the noise about?

Caregivers are an unusual group of employees.

California’s In-Home Supportive Services program pays for services that allow many seniors and the disabled to remain in their homes, which is cheaper than hospitals or other facilities. The mechanism for that is full-time, in-home care, typically provided by caregivers who are often (but not always) related to the person being cared for.

The services provided by caregivers are often simple but essential — house cleaning, cooking, laundry and grocery shopping. Caregivers also typically accompany clients to medical appointments and provide supervision for the mentally impaired.

In Riverside and San Bernardino counties more than 30,000 low-income seniors and people with disabilities rely on caregivers. With the state’s senior population expected to grow 60 percent by 2030, to about 9 million, the unions are looking retain the caregivers already in the program and recruit new workers.

But the $12 minimum wage caregivers earn is, according to the unions, not enough to live on, nor is it enough to attract new people to the job.

“We would like to see some kind of latter program where folks want to come into this type of industry,” said Matthew Maldonado, director of organizing and field services for UDW/ASCME.

“But, because of the low wage and the lack of benefits we continue to see gaps in providers being able to be there for clients.”

One of those who understands the financial strain, and other difficulties of the job, is April Kwaitkowski a home care provider in Riverside County who works with her boyfriend’s 88-year-old grandmother. Kwaitkowski’s client suffers Alzheimer’s Disease and has a broken back.

“A lot of nights, I get up in the middle of the night to tend to (her) as she screams out in pain due to her back,” Kwiatkowski said.

“I gave up a pretty good job to be able to care for (her),” she added. “To be honest, I would not change (that decision), because I, nor her family, want her in a (nursing) home, which we all know is a death sentence.”

Kwiatkowski, who said she is 21 weeks pregnant, said she’s on a waiting list for health insurance and has to rely on Medi-Cal and food stamps to get by.

“I want to be able to feed, clothe, and give my son or daughter the things they need without having to worry about it,” she said.

“I want my child to have a better life than I have, even if it’s just a little bit more.”

Riverside County caregivers have been without a contract for four years. The last time they got a raise that wasn’t a mandated increase in the minimum wage was 2011, according to the union. The union also says more than 2,400 caregivers are on the health insurance waiting list.

The union is asking for a $1 an hour increase over the next three years and to lift the cap on how many providers can get health benefits. The county has not “put anything on the table,” said Cherie Parker, a communications specialist with the union.

The county has been in contract talks with the union since September 2017, and has met several times with union representatives, said county spokeswoman Brooke Federico. “We continue to be committed to finding an agreement.”

In San Bernardino County, where contract talks with the county have been underway for 18 months, caregivers have not seen a pay increase in nearly a decade. Of the 26,000-plus caregivers in the county, about 600 are on the county’s health care plan, leaving others either without coverage or having to pay out of pocket, according to SEIU Local 2015.

Dereck Smith, executive vice president with SEIU Local 2015, called the county’s latest offer of — a 40 cent an hour bump to kick in over three years — “disrespectful.”

The union’s goal is to get workers to $15 an hour before 2022, the year when a $15 an hour minimum wage will be legally required for California employers with 26 or more workers.

“We’re not telling them to match the highest county,” Smith said. “We don’t want to be the lowest county either. Let’s just meet somewhere in the middle. So far, they have not done that.”

David Wert, county spokesman, said the county’s $17 million wage offer would make San Bernardino County among the higher paid in the state, particularly in Southern California.

The county also has proposed a 50% increase in its contributions toward health coverage, which Wert said would make coverage more widely available and affordable to more caregivers.

“These caregivers perform a valuable and vital service for their clients and our community. They deserve dignity and they have our respect,” Wert said.

“The county is committed to continuing negotiations with the union in good faith and reaching an agreement that is fair to both caregivers and the taxpayers.”

While largely a low wage job across the state, workers in other Southern California counties recently have worked out contracts that pay more than minimum wage.

In October, caregivers in Los Angeles County won a $1 an hour increase above minimum wage over the next three years, plus an additional $150,000 for general supplies With the increase, the 175,000 caregivers in Los Angeles are expected to make $15 an hour by 2020 and $1 above minimum thereafter, according to SEIU Local 2015.

In Orange County, caregivers with UDW/ASCEME recently ratified a contract with a 50-cent an hour wage increase over the next two years. The Orange County Board of Supervisors has yet to approve the contract, Maldonado said.

How IHSS funding works

In 1991, the state legislature shifted some of the funding responsibility for certain social services, like In-Home Supportive Services, to counties. For every dollar, counties pay 16 cents, the state pays 30 cents and the feds pay 54 cents.

“Every dollar invested by the county is matched by $5.25 in federal and state money, meaning each dollar the county spends on IHSS generates a huge return in the form of federal and state matching funds,” Parker said, of Riverside County. “Right now, over $14 million dollars is being left with the federal and state government.”

Still, there are so many caregivers in San Bernardino County that the county’s portion of their pay is a big dent in its budget. Wert said the county’s current offer to the union could mean boost the county’s expenses by $4 million.

“It’s all taxpayer money,” Wert said. “And since the county has been given the task of negotiating salaries, the county has an obligation to be prudent with state and federal money, as well as (with) county money.”

Smith said the funding is available, and argues that the program saves money for the taxpayer.

“Every penny put back into these workers… improves the economy in San Bernardino.”

Jeff Horseman got into journalism because he liked to write and stunk at math. He grew up in Vermont and he honed his interviewing skills as a supermarket cashier by asking Bernie Sanders “Paper or plastic?” After graduating from Syracuse University in 1999, Jeff began his journalistic odyssey at The Watertown Daily Times in upstate New York, where he impressed then-U.S. Senate candidate Hillary Clinton so much she called him “John” at the end of an interview. From there, he went to Annapolis, Maryland, where he covered city, county and state government at The Capital newspaper before love and the quest for snowless winters took him in 2007 to Southern California, where he started out covering Temecula for The Press-Enterprise. Today, Jeff writes about Riverside County government and regional politics. Along the way, Jeff has covered wildfires, a tropical storm, 9/11 and the Dec. 2 terror attack in San Bernardino. If you have a question or story idea about politics or the inner workings of government, please let Jeff know. He’ll do his best to answer, even if it involves a little math.

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